Lead Democrats have proposed a bill to raise statutory budget caps for two years, with $733 billion for defense in FY20 — but it’s likely to spark a fight with the White House.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warns lawmakers the strategy is “not sustainable” under budget caps due to return in 2020 and 2021, unless Congress arrives at a way to ease or eliminate them.
The American defense-industrial base needs the Pentagon budget to grow at least 5 percent per year to remain healthy and stable, the industry’s leading trade group says.
To break Democrats’ insistence on parity between defense and non-defense spending increases, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is arguing defense spending has been hit harder.
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